00:00The U.S. Air Force's OA-1K Skyraider II is basically a crop duster on steroids.
00:07A lot of steroids.
00:09The U.S. Special Operations Command was forced to cut down on the number of Skyraiders it
00:14wanted to buy in fiscal year 2026, but the company that makes the things, L3Harris, just
00:20expanded the facility in Texas where they're built.
00:23So while the U.S. may be buying fewer, someone else is likely buying more.
00:30L3Harris Technologies says the expansion project at its Waco facility is now complete, allowing
00:38the production hub to serve as the center of excellence for the Skyraider II program.
00:44L3Harris says the larger operation will better position the company to meet the needs of
00:49the U.S. Air Force and allied nations alike.
00:52The OA-1K Skyraider II is an Air Tractor 802U crop duster that's been heavily modified for
01:00military use.
01:02The single-engine prop plane is a light attack aircraft built for counter-insurgency missions
01:08and armed overwatch.
01:10The Skyraider cockpit is big enough for a crew of two, and similar to cockpits in the A-10
01:16Warthog, the Skyraider crew is protected by what's known as a ballistic armor bathtub.
01:23Skyraider IIs are highly modular and adaptable.
01:26Crews can swap out different sensors, payloads, and weapons packages depending on the mission.
01:32And while the range of the plane itself is somewhat limited, the Skyraider is designed
01:38to break down and ship in the back of a cargo plane, so it can be shipped to almost any location
01:44on the planet.
01:46U.S. Special Operations Command originally signed a $3 billion contract to buy 75 Skyraider IIs,
01:53but had to scale that number back to 62 because of budgetary constraints and shifting priorities
02:01within the Department of Defense.
02:03After all, the Skyraider II was born out of a time when America was bogged down in a land-based
02:09conflict in the Middle East, a very different environment than what U.S. forces might see
02:15in the Pacific.
02:17But the emergence and ubiquitousness of drones on the modern battlefield is adding a new wrinkle
02:23to warfare, and combatant commanders are having to find new ways to deal with the problem on the fly.
02:30One effective counter-drone strategy in Ukraine includes guys riding in the back of prop planes
02:36shooting drones down with shotguns and rifles.
02:40The Skyraider II is much better suited to carry out missions like that, especially when armed
02:45with munitions like the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, which turns Hydra rockets into smart munitions.
02:53The DoD likes APKWS rockets so much it just spent $1.7 billion to buy thousands more.
03:01L3 Harris says it's in talks right now with a few countries looking to purchase some Skyraiders,
03:08but is keeping those countries' names close to the vest.
03:12The first missionized OA-1K Skyraider II was delivered to the U.S. Air Force in April.
03:19There are plans to deliver more craft each month until the contract is fulfilled.
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